Photo by: Timothy White

Vampires may be cold but this wolf pack is hot! And getting hotter: Four new actors have been pumping up to play the band of brotherly shape-shifters in The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

The group – Chaske Spencer, 34, Alex Meraz, 24, Kiowa Gordon, 19, and Bronson Pelletier, 23 – join Taylor Lautner, 17, as he returns as Jacob Black for the sequel, due out Nov. 20.

Because the characters belong to the Quileute tribe, based in La Push, Wash., the film’s director, Chris Weitz, has insisted on authenticity. “They had to have papers that proved their heritage,” Weitz, who hired actors with Native American or First Nation ancestry, tells USA Today. “And they had to be in good physical shape.”

Not to mention possessing the ability to work half-naked in the chilly Vancouver, B.C., area, where the film has been shooting for several weeks. “They have all been good-natured,” says Weitz. “They show up on location in drenching, cold rain, and I say, ‘Okay, off with the robes.’ ”

Disrobing for a romp through the woods as Sam Uley, the pack’s alpha male, is New York-based Spencer. His Native American heritage is Lakota Sioux. Meraz, from Mesa, Ariz., plays Paul – the most volatile wolf-shifter – and boasts a Purepecha heritage.

Gordon is making his movie debut as Embry Call, Jacob’s best friend. He is from Peach Springs, Ariz., and has a Hualapai background. Rounding out the group as Jared is Pelletier of British Columbia. He’s done Canadian TV work and his family lines are Cree-Metis.

So they have buff physiques, but what about becoming wolves for the film? The transformations are computer-generated – the beasts are the size of horses and race around on all fours – but one part of each wolf will be familiar.

“They all have the actor’s eyes,” Weitz says.

via People

© Tina Gill/PR Photos

New rumor has emerged by the hour that “Twilight” co-stars Nikki Reed and Robert Pattinson are secretly dating. According to Lainey Gossip, which is the first to report that matter, the twosome has been spotted spending some quality time together on and off the set of “The Twilight Saga’s New Moon” in Vancouver, Canada.

Nikki, still according to Lainey Gossip, hung up with Robert at his place on Sunday, April 29. Later that evening they hooked up again. They attended a Juno Awards after party with the companion of fellow “Twilight” co-star Kristen Stewart and her actor boyfriend Michael Angarano.

During the bash, Nikki and Robert “spent much of the time talking to each other, heads bent close together,” a source tells Lainey Gossip. At the end of the night, “Kristen and Michael hopped in a cab, and Nikki and Rob walked further up the block…arms wrapped around each other on their way home.” The source adds further, “She stayed with him overnight, was supposed to be back in L.A. on Monday….But never showed.”

There hasn’t been confirmation nor denial from Nikki or Robert regarding the dating claim. Besides, there is also no obvious evidence of them spending time together at the particular date and event.

Nikki Reed, Robert Pattinson, and Kristen Stewart currently are in Vancouver for the filming of the highly anticipated “The Twilight Saga’s New Moon.” The “Twilight” sequel will be released in U.S. theaters on November 20 later this year.

via Ace Showbiz

As Twilight series fans look forward to seeing Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner reprise their roles as Edward Cullen, Bella Swan, and Jacob Black in New Moon this November. Many of them, declaring their slight disappointment with the amount of the book that was left out of the first film, have declared those scenes that are crucial and must be included in New Moon (for that list, see here).

Others, however, say that the list is pointless – that Twilight fans should accept the fact that New Moon simply cannot be exactly like the book. To the chagrin of many, these folks say that they think New Moon, the film, may differ significantly from the book, and that this should be okay.

Critics of this viewpoint state that this is unfair to the millions that read and loved New Moon, and that it is indeed very possible to bring a faithful adaptation of the book to the big screen.

Twilight Examiner

Little-known first nations actor Bronson Pelletier has been cast in the Twilight sequel New Moon, scheduled to begin shooting Mar. 23 in Vancouver.

The announcement appeared on the website of Vancouver-based Carrier Talent Management Thursday and then promptly disappeared.

Darren Boidman of Carrier refused comment when contacted by The Sun but appeared to confirm Pelletier’s involvement in the project by referring all questions about the young actor to Summit, the production company filming New Moon.

The announcement on Carrier’s website read: Congratulations to BRONSON who scores a lead role in the highly anticipated “Twilight” feature film sequel “New Moon.” It’s rumored he will be co-staring with Dakota Fanning.

Dakota Fanning’s involvement in the film has not been confirmed by Summit.

Pelletier, 20, is a Plains Cree originally from the Askinootow first nation in Alberta. According to his official bio he is a snowboarding enthusiast and idolizes Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix.

His cast credits include only two productions, Global TV’s Renegadepress.com and Discovery Kids’ Dinosapien.

His aboriginal ethnicity suggests that he will play one of the film’s werewolf characters, who are all members of the Quiluette Indian Band in the book series by Stephanie Meyer (I’m thinking possibly Seth).

Recent casting calls for New Moon in Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna specifically sought first nations actors for speaking roles. Hundreds of young actors and hopefuls showed up, some from as far away as Florida, overwhelming the casting agents’ ability to see all the applicants.

Stewart “went crazy” after she found out that 90210 hottie AnnaLynne McCord was being considered for a role as a sexy seductress in the movie.

“Kristen was jealous and annoyed by the attention heaped on AnnaLynne,” said a source.

It looks like Kristen won’t have to lose much sleep about it. McCord bowed out of the project, saying it conflicted with her schedule.

“Twilight” director Catherine Hardwicke says she walked away from the payday of a lifetime to direct the sequel “New Moon” because she didn’t want to make the movie under the deadline and budget constraints that would have been placed on her.

That’s one of the key revelations in an interview she did with Entertainment Weekly in which she also discusses the forthcoming “Twilight: Director’s Notebook,” inspired by the on-set journal she kept while shooting the smash-hit vampire romance.

Hardwicke says in the interview posted on ew.com that she was having dinner in Paris with the film’s young stars, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, when her cell phone rang. She’d been in negotiations with Summit Entertainment, which released “Twilight,” about directing part two in Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling series.

“I think that it is pretty clear that there are huge rumors going around the Internet about me up for the role as Jacob Black. At this point, they are only rumors. There are a lot of opinions going around on the Internet about this role. It is definitely a role of a lifetime and I would love to have that chance.”

I have already had tons of comments about this, but could we Jacob Black fans keep our minds open to the possibility of a new Jacob??  Most have you have said, “HELL NO”, but we might have to come to terms with the possibility of no Taylor in the new movie.

Indeed, at press time the second movie appeared to have little more than a rough first-draft working script. As Summit’s production president Erik Feig told EW during Twilight’s record-busting first weekend, “There is that first…script. All the finesse that turns a screenplay into a movie hasn’t happened yet.” Two weeks later, Summit is saying it’s happy with screenwriter ­Melissa Rosenberg’s progress.

Another of Hardwicke’s primary concerns was that hunky vampire Edward remains MIA throughout New Moon’s middle portion. In her own opening-weekend interview, she told EW, “You have to get the chemistry as strong between Jacob and Bella as it was between Bella and Edward. You also have to do some thing with that arc: She’s in love with somebody, he disappears, she falls in love with someone else, and the first guy comes back. Movies like Pearl Harbor have tried it. It absolutely didn’t work.”

With or without Hardwicke, Summit faces other snags. Two sources tell EW the studio doesn’t want to rehire baby-faced Taylor Lautner (pictured) as Jacob, though Lautner’s agent has apparently reached out to the imaging company behind The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in an attempt to demonstrate to Summit how a digitally bulked-up Lautner could work. (Summit says it won’t make a decision until a new filmmaker is on board.) There’s also the matter of finding a cast of Native American actors to play Jacob’s werewolf clan — a difficult challenge Hardwicke was also faced with before settling on Lautner, who isn’t completely Native American. And with a slightly increased budget of $50 million — much of which is assumed will go to leads asking for heftier paydays, location shoots in Italy, and ramped-up F/X — Summit will have to scrimp somewhere.

So what director would want to take on such a big headache? Well, at press time, an offer was out to Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass), who put Summit on the map years ago when its foreign sales operation made tons of cash off of his first film, American Pie. (One source says Weitz has already had conversations with below-the-line crew for New Moon.) “We are in a recession,” reminds one Hollywood insider. “It’s a hit franchise. Whoever steps into it is guaranteed a $100 million gross. Everyone wants this movie.” Adds an exec at another studio, “You’d have to have a very high standard for art, hate the movie business, and hate money to walk off this sequel.”